Coronation Day! (Everyday)
by CanITellUSmThin
Summary: What if the day that sparked the not-so-eternal winter was a never-ending cycle? Elsa is stuck repeating her coronation day and has no way of knowing how to stop it. Will she ever break free?
1. The Night Before

**AN: So this was just a silly idea that implanted firmly into my head and wouldn't go away so I thought I'd give it a try. If anyone has seen Christmas Everyday or Groundhog's Day where the main character's would relive a certain day over and over, this story is going to be like that, kinda. I'm going to try and make this story as humorous as possible. It'll probably suck though. xD Also chapter lengths may vary significantly. Example, this one is super short but the next will likely be much longer. Not much to this first chapter but hope you enjoy, regardless! **

_The night before the events of Frozen took place…_

Elsa lay in bed, her eyes wide open, staring at the ceiling. Her gloved hands clenched the edge of her blanket. She wasn't sure how long she was laying there but it felt like an agonizing forever. She was restless and sleep was highly elusive for her. But that wasn't surprising considering she was about to experience one of the most stressful days she would ever encounter tomorrow.

It was going to be her coronation day…

The Princess grimaced and groaned, raising her blanket to cover her face, wishing she could hide forever under the seemingly protective barrier that really held no protection whatsoever. But the idea of wrapping the blanket around her and remaining within her own little cocoon was such a promising thought. In her cocoon she could be who she was and not have any worries. Too bad she wouldn't have that luxury, because the day had finally arrived where she would be officially announced the new queen.

It was such a terrifying realization.

Oh, Elsa was prepared for the duties expected of her, that wasn't the issue. She was raised properly and was fully aware of what she needed to do in order to rule the throne as Arendelle's heir. Her main issue and number one concern was mingling with other people while trying to conceal her unnatural powers from them. Despite all her efforts, the young woman was still unable to handle and contain her icy curse properly and now she had run out of time. Her parents had tried their best, and when they died Elsa had worked extra hard to get better. But try and try as she might, she never could successfully hide it completely, and so she had remained shut away from the rest of the world, only getting into contact with a very select few people, such as those who taught her all the queenly duties she was to take over.

Unfortunately, Anna, Elsa's little sister, was not one of the select few she saw very often and it was the one thing that pained Elsa more than anything. To keep her sister at bay, someone she loved so much, was too terrible for words. They used to be very close as children, practically inseparable! And then she had gone and ruined it by injuring the younger girl thanks to her curse. Tomorrow would be the first time she'd be in full contact with her sister. That alone was reason enough to NOT lose control of her powers.

Elsa desperately wished she could delay her coronation, at least for a day. Maybe one more day working at keeping her powers under control would make a difference! She snorted unattractively, knowing it was a ridiculous thought. She had all those years to do it and it certainly hadn't helped one damn bit. Her only hope was to keep her gloves on at all times to hopefully avoid any incidents, although the gloves themselves wouldn't entirely prevent a reaction. The gloves had been useful enough but as she grew older her powers had grown stronger and would sometimes escape from her feet as well.

"UGH!" Elsa furiously flung the covers off and frustratingly rubbed at her face. It wasn't doing her any good worrying about all this now! She needed to get a good night's sleep so she would be fresh and healthy looking tomorrow morning. All eyes would be on her whether she liked it or not. It wouldn't do any good if she appeared at her own coronation with ugly bags under her eyes! She sullenly got out of bed and went to her door, opening it. Poking her head out, she spotted one of the guards posted down the hall and asked, "Would you summon Gerda for me, please?" The guard nodded and went to fetch the woman.

It didn't take long before there was a gentle knock on her door. Elsa, sitting restlessly on the edge of her bed, called, "Come in."

Gerda entered, concern on her face. "Princess? Is everything alright?" The tall, thin woman was one of the oldest remaining servants in the Arendelle residence. She had been there for Elsa and Anna since the day they were born and was one of the few who knew of Elsa's peculiar powers. Elsa was glad for the woman. She wanted so badly to squeeze the woman into a hug to show her appreciation, but she refrained from doing so for obvious reasons.

"Gerda! I can't sleep! I've been tossing and turning and staring at the ceiling for hours!" Elsa started pacing, hands behind her back. She left an ice trail in her wake. "If I don't get some rest… I fear I won't be able to function properly tomorrow and make a fool of myself."

Gerda smiled and stopped Elsa's frantic back and forth motion and patted her shoulder comfortingly, causing Elsa to flinch. The Princess was not used to being touched by others so freely. "Don't you worry, Princess. I may have something to ease your worries. Excuse me for a second while I go fetch it for you."

"You do? Oh, thank you so much!" Elsa eagerly waited while Gerda went to get whatever it was that was going to help Elsa sleep. Hopefully it would allow her a peaceful, dreamless rest. The last thing she needed was a nightmare about her showing up at her own coronation naked. Yeesh! She shuddered as that particular scenario played out in her head. Of course, any scenario was better than a possible ice mishap. She looked at her gloved hands and sighed.

The ever helpful Gerda returned with a small vial, which she passed to Elsa, who took it gingerly. It was a clear vial with a disgusting brown liquid sloshing inside. There was a decrepit label on one side that read: R and R. The letters could have stood for anything.

Elsa tentatively opened the vial and risked a sniff. She gagged and turned her head away, pinching her nose. "Gerda, what IS this?"

"It's a sleeping remedy?" Gerda said, sounding quite unsure. "It was amongst your mother's things, particularly her sleeping aids."

Elsa eyed it warily. "It looks and smells terrible! What if it's poison?"

"Oh, I highly doubt that, my dear! If it was in your mother's possession I'm sure it's perfectly safe."

The Princess could have argued that anyone could have easily planted the vial amongst her mother's things but she kept quiet. Maybe it was poison, maybe it wasn't. There was only one way to find out. Elsa swallowed the saliva gathering in her mouth and tipped the putrid smelling contents of the vial into her mouth. She didn't breathe to avoid tasting the liquid as she allowed the substance to slide down her throat, which surprisingly was silky smooth on its way down. With a now empty vial in her hand she paused. Was she supposed to have taken all of it? She shrugged and handed the vial back to Gerda. Warmth spread through her body and exhaustion consumed her as she started feeling the effects almost instantly.

"Is it working?" Gerda inquired.

Nodding, Elsa said, "I think so." Her eyelids drooped and she felt relief at finally being able to sleep. "You may go now, Gerda. Thank you for your help. I'll see you tomorrow," Elsa said, shuffling to her bed where she ungracefully belly flopped on top of the covers.

If Gerda said anything in response, Elsa didn't hear her, for the second her head touched the pillow she lost consciousness.


	2. Pt 1 of Day 1: The First Coronation

**AN: So the this chapter and the next are going to be when the actual movie takes place. And I know the whole thing happens in several days and not one but for the story's sake, and since no one went to sleep anyway, I'm going to count it as one. Sorry if it sucks and if it's not very funny. I do have a few chapters in mind that will hopefully be funny enough to make up for the lameness. :D**

Loud pounding rudely interrupted Princess Elsa's rest, cutting her snoring off abruptly. She frowned into her pillow unhappily, her eyes still closed, and grumbled sleepily, "Go away… I don't want to build a snowman…"

Instead of mercifully going away like she asked, the knocking intensified greatly, becoming more insistent with each contact it made with the door. And behind the knocking was a muffled voice. Elsa couldn't hear a word the voice was saying and didn't feel like lifting her head up to hear it better as she was in a very comfortable position and didn't wish to move from it. Whoever it was disturbing her would surely go away eventually, she just had to tune them out. She grabbed the extra pillow on her bed and placed it over her head, covering her ears to block out everything and tried going back to sleep.

"PRINCESS ELSA!"

Yelping in surprise, Elsa's body jumped several inches off the bed. She rolled onto her back, her hands clutching a pillow protectively to her chest, and stared wide-eyed at Gerda, who had stormed into the room in a panic after her knocks had gone unanswered.

"Gerda! Sheesh! What are you trying to do, give me a heart attack?" Elsa complained. She wiped the corner of her mouth where drool had collected and yawned. Hugging her pillow, she lay back down on her bed and let her eyelids shut.

But the covers were yanked from her body and her pillow removed from her clutches. "Princess Elsa! You must get up immediately! We have to get you ready for your coronation!"

Elsa looked at the woman, confused. "My…?" She bolted out of bed right away. "Oh, no, I overslept!" The sleeping aid, or whatever it was Gerda had given her, had worked wonders, allowing her to sleep the remainder of the night, but it had made her sleep longer than she had wanted to. She pawed at her white-blond hair, which was in total disarray as it always was after a long night of sleeping. Panicking, she rushed into her private bathroom with Gerda in tow, hurriedly removing her night clothes and tossing them carelessly aside.

Gerda tried to calm her as she prepared Elsa's bath. "Princess, relax! We have plenty of time to get you ready, my dear. Calm down and take deep, soothing breaths."

She followed the instructions but they didn't feel soothing and she didn't feel any calmer. "I'm scared," she admitted quietly, watching as the tub filled with warm water and soapy bubbles formed along the surface.

"I know. But try not to be, okay?" Gerda said gently, rubbing Elsa's arm soothingly and smiling when Elsa stiffened at the contact, but slowly relaxed into the touch. She wanted to get the Princess used to other people touching her when she least expected it. "Fear is your worst enemy. Be strong, be positive. Think happy thoughts! Once you get through coronation, the rest of the day will be easy as pie! And before you know it, the day will be done and over with."

"But nothing will ever be the same," Elsa said, hugging herself. Once she became the queen she could never again shut herself away from the world. She would have to communicate on a daily basis with other people. She wanted to break down and cry so badly, but she allowed herself a tiny sniffle instead.

The bath filled almost to the top and Gerda forced Elsa to remove her gloves before ushering Elsa into the water. Elsa sank into the comforting warm bubbles and went to work washing herself while Gerda tended to her out of control hair, remarking at how the two sisters managed to create such an incredible mess of their hair while simply sleeping. Apparently Anna's hair was usually ten times worse than hers and Elsa wished she could visit her sister one day while she was sleeping to see if it was true.

Thinking of her sister made her wonder what she was up to. "How's Anna?"

Gerda brushed her long strands of hair, carefully undoing knots, trying not to hurt the future Queen. "Princess Anna? Oh, she's fine. She's likely still sleeping, as well. I'll be on her case as soon as I have you all set and ready."

"I miss her. I want to see her," Elsa said wistfully.

"I know you do. And after today, you'll get to see her whenever you want! You won't have to shut her out ever again."

"But what if I hurt her again?" Elsa said fearfully, and the water surrounding her body grew colder and crackled, and Elsa found herself encased in a tub of ice. She cursed in an unlady-like manner, certainly not a mouth fit for a queen, and felt tears surface on her eyes. Gerda paused her attention on Elsa's hair and retrieved a chisel and hammer from a drawer and started chipping away at the ice.

"Try not to think like that," Gerda scolded as she expertly used the chisel and hammer. Tending to the special Princess as often as she did, she certainly had lots of practice using the tools.

"I can't help it!" Elsa practically shouted. Her powers had effectively ruined any chance she had of having a relationship with her sister. Hearing Anna's voice through her door over the past grueling years had been absolute torture, and while the idea of them forming a close sisterly bond again after all the time they lost was promising, Elsa could only see trouble brewing in the future ahead. As long as she had her ice powers, she was a danger to her sister, there was no question about that.

The servant stopped her actions, placing her hands on her hips. "If you like, I could just leave you in the pitiful state that you are in and we can avoid any further incident."

Though Elsa knew it was a threat that wouldn't be kept since she had her coronation to attend, she remained quiet and let Gerda finish her task. A few taps in just the right spots split the giant ice cube in no time, and once freed from her tomb of ice, Elsa sat morosely on the edge of the tub while Gerda finished doing her hair, making it up into a neat and orderly bun, more sophisticated looking than the bun Elsa normally did when she prepared her own hair.

"There," Gerda said. "Your hair looks fabulous!"

Elsa made a grunting sound, her moody way of saying thanks and was forced to stand. She barely had time to grab and slip on her gloves before she was whisked back to her bedroom where Gerda positioned her in front of the full length mirror and told her not to move so she had nothing to look at other than her very naked and quite pale but freshly cleaned body. Standing motionless, Elsa watched the woman with amusement as she dashed around like a mad person, opening up drawers and rifling through them while making fretful noises as she picked out undergarments for the queen-to-be to wear. Why she was fussing over such a trivial thing was beyond the Princess. Nobody was going to see what she wore under her dress. Hell, she could probably get away with wearing nothing if she really wanted to. But that wouldn't be very queenly.

The woman finally settled on a purple bra and matching underwear to go with it, mirroring the color of the cape Elsa was going to wear with her dress. Elsa accepted the articles of clothing when Gerda provided them to her and she slipped into them as the maid brought out her coronation dress. It was mostly green except for the arms and upper portion, which was black. It was a slim dress, ordinary in looks, Elsa thought, not fancy at all, but with the purple cape the outfit would look more attractive.

"Oh, dear…" Gerda sounded worried as she surveyed the dress and then Elsa's body.

"What? What's wrong?"

"I was just thinking… when was the last time you tried on the dress?"

Elsa glared at her. "Gerda, are you saying I'm fat?" she huffed. But it was a valid question, she realized, eyes widening. When had she last tried it on? It had been too long ago. It had slipped her mind! Oh, god, what if it didn't fit her?

"Not at all!" Gerda said quickly. "Just a small possibility you might have gained a pound or two… Never mind. I'm sure I can easily adjust it if necessary." She helped her into the dress, and just to be on the safe side, Elsa sucked in her stomach to allow her body to slide into the dress more easily. Once clothed, she attempted to breathe and found the dress was not constricting and that she had plenty of breathing room. The dress fit her figure perfectly.

Stepping back to get a good look at her, Gerda rubbed her chin as her eyes took in the younger woman fully. Elsa waited for Gerda's approval, and when the maid slowly nodded appreciatively Elsa released a sigh of relief. Worst part over, Gerda handed Elsa the stockings and shoes to put on while she added the long, flowing cape, draping it around Elsa's shoulders and clasping it together at the front of her neck with a broach. Then she not so gently wrenched the gloves off the dainty hands, to which Elsa exclaimed in protest.

"Hush," Gerda said, tossing the gloves over her shoulder and Elsa's eyes followed their journey to the floor.

"I am NOT going out there without gloves," Elsa said adamantly as she tucked her hands sulkily under her arms.

Impatiently, Gerda removed her hands from their position, placing them firmly at Elsa's front. "Don't be ridiculous. I wouldn't dare keep your precious gloves from you. However, those ones you adore so much are, quite frankly, old and not suitable for your coronation." She dipped a hand into her apron and pulled out something wrapped in a tidy cloth. She unwrapped it and held a new pair of gloves out to her. "These are just right for the occasion."

Taking the new gloves, which were the same shade of color as the green on her dress, she hurriedly put them on. They were stiff from being unused and she flexed her fingers to break them in a bit. "Thank you, Gerda."

"Just look at you, Princess Elsa! You look absolutely beautiful! Why, looking at you I can't help but see your mother in you. Oh, she would be so proud!" Gerda gushed.

"Would she?" Elsa said, her brows furrowing as she worried her bottom lip.

"Turn that frown upside down and wipe those worry lines off that forehead of yours! You're too young for wrinkles. It wouldn't do to have you looking like an old woman at the age of twenty-one."

Elsa faked an outrageous smile, baring her full set of teeth. "Happy?" she said behind her teeth.

"I suppose it will do, that is, if your intentions are to scare your guests away," Gerda quipped. The remark made Elsa laugh out loud, and Gerda felt utterly satisfied that she had brought that sound from the Princess's mouth. It was such a rare but wonderful sound and she wished there was a way to bring it out more often.

The moment was short-lived as Elsa said, "Scaring them away with my smile would be a better alternative than with my powers."

Shaking her head tiredly, Gerda sat Elsa down on the edge of her bed. "We're almost done here. Let me just dab a touch of make-up on your eyelids and a dash of blush to your cheeks and you can be on your way to enjoy your last moments of being a princess."

* * *

Elsa wandered around the castle, observing as servants bustled about, setting the place up for the celebration. She tried to stay out of their way, not wanting to disturb their progress. They moved around her swiftly, stopping only to address her, some already gracing her as their queen. She nodded and smiled in greeting, thanked them for their hard work and continued on to the next room.

One thing she was not prepared for was how unbelievably bright everything was. Each room she walked into was blinding as the sunshine streamed in through the normally shuttered but now wide open windows. If things went well, she would ensure that the windows were left open more often.

As she continues her walk, Elsa hears a familiar voice singing.

"FOR THE FIRST TIME IN FOREVERRR!"

Anna. Elsa smiled as a flood of warmth encompassed her. She wanted nothing more than to locate her sister and just hug her senseless, to show her how much she missed her and that she loved her with all her heart. But she refrained from doing so, knowing it wouldn't do her any good to get herself worked up so early in the day. Instead, she let her legs lead her to the study, where she approached the window and watched the people below streaming towards the castle, waiting to be let in to see their future queen. She inhaled deeply, fighting down the anxiety she felt building up.

"Don't let them iiiinnnn. Don't let them seeeee!" Elsa had no idea where it came from, but words naturally flowed her mouth in the tune of a song. She turned to the opposite end of the room and found herself gazing up at a portrait of the late king, her father. "Be the good girl you always have to be!" In it her father stood strong and confident while holding the royal scepter and sphere. "Conceal!" she sang, removing her gloves and dropping them neatly on the table in front of her, directly beneath the portrait.

She wanted to make him proud, she had to show him that she, too, was strong, that she was capable of being the queen everyone expected her to be. On either side of her gloves were two objects, a candlestick holder and a lovely glass ornament that her father used to keep candy in to snack on, which she picked up with her bare hands. "Don't feel." One of her fond memories as a child, before the accident, was when Elsa used to visit the King in his study and how he would happily give her one of the delicious treats.

With the candlestick holder and candy container grasped in her hands, Elsa turned and imagined herself facing a large audience. "Put on a show!" Thinking of the crowd of faces she would inevitably be forced to stand before, she felt the panic in her rising. She flicked her eyes down to the objects she held, not wanting to see what she knew she was going to see, which was frost enveloping the items quickly and efficiently. "Make one wrong move and everyone will know!" Disappointed in herself, knowing she failed miserably, she hurriedly placed the items back where she found them and gazed forlornly at her hands. "But it's only for today…" Slowly she covered her exposed hands with her gloves. "It's agony to wait." She strode purposely towards the doors of the study, wanting to get the whole thing over and done with as soon as possible.

With great flourish she opened both doors at once and, raising her voice to be heard loud and clear, despite the fact there was a line of servants waiting for her directly outside the doors so it would have been impossible for them NOT to hear her, commanded, still singing, "Tell the guards to open up-" Elsa paused for a brief second, as if contemplating on changing her mind as a sense of foreboding filled her.

Oh, hell with it! Whatever happened, happened. She would never find out if she hid herself away for the rest of her life.

"THE GATES!" Elsa bellowed suddenly, finishing her sentence where she left off and giving the servants on both sides of the hallway quite a fright. She clasped her hands in front of her, standing straight and lifting her head high, doing her best to look sophisticated and graceful like the queen she was meant to be as she walked more calmly than she felt down the carpeted hallway to a set of doors leading to an outside balcony.

And as Elsa stood on the balcony, cringing inwardly at the sight of the throngs of people entering the castle gates for the first time in a very long time, she miraculously noticed one body further out moving in the opposite direction of the rest of the crowd, walking dangerously on the edge of the bridge walls. She groaned, instantly recognizing it as Anna. Apparently she was still as reckless as ever…

Gerda showed up behind her, clearing her throat so as not to startle her. "Princess Elsa, are you ready?"

"I was born ready," Elsa squeaked out. She groaned miserably and slapped her hand over her face with disgust at how stupid she sounded and muttered unintelligibly under her breath. Born ready… Ha! What a joke! She would never be ready for this. Never! But being the first born child, it was her destiny to become the queen and she had no other choice but to go through with it.

Gerda looked on with a raised eyebrow, amused. "Then let's go."

* * *

When Elsa entered the church she looked straight ahead as she walked down the aisle stiffly, sensing the watchful eyes of all that inhabited the building aimed at her and wanting more than anything to crawl under a bench and hide from them. Knowing that hiding wasn't an option, she instead distracted herself by focusing on the voices of the singing choir and the pain in her mouth from biting her cheek.

As she approached the bishop she flicked her eyes to her right and met her sister's bright eyes. Her little sister was not so little anymore. She couldn't believe how much she'd matured! Anna flashed her a smile and Elsa returned the gesture and felt a pang of sadness when she saw her sister glow with delight from not being ignored for once. If only she knew why they had been distant for so long, Elsa thought as the bishop raised the crown and she bent down for him to place it on her head. The crown was light and she hardly felt it nestled on top of her hair.

The bishop then presented a plush pillow to her that had two golden objects, the royal scepter and sphere, sitting on top of it. They were the same ones her father had held on his own coronation day, the ones pictured in the portrait. She reached for them, but before her hands could make contact the bishop cleared his throat rather loudly, startling her.

"Your Majesty, the gloves," the man whispered.

Damn! She had hoped the fact her gloves were on would go unnoticed.

With her hands hovering over the items, Elsa glanced at him with barely concealed annoyance. Her mouth twitched and she wanted to say, "Seriously? Is there any particular reason why I need to remove my gloves? What's the big deal?" Hell, wouldn't it be better if she kept them on? It would save the royal items from getting dirtied with fingerprints and would then require less cleaning.

She cursed herself for not thinking of asking Gerda for skin-toned gloves and then cursed Gerda for not thinking about it herself. Maybe then she might have been able to get away with it…

Her heart climbed up her throat as she peeled off the gloves carefully and put them on the pillow. Taking Gerda's advice from earlier, she tried to calm her nerves by taking a deep breath and releasing it, but like before it did little to soothe her. Her unsheathed hands shook tremendously as she scooped the scepter and orb up and, holding her breath, her lips forming a thin line, she turned to face the seated crowd as the bishop spoke behind her back. Elsa swallowed hard as the audience stood as one and all eyes zeroed in on her intently, polite smiles plastered on nameless faces, and it was one thing to think or know so many people were staring at her, but to actually see it with her own eyes was terrifying!

Flinching, she managed not to squirm as something hard, slick and cold found its way into her underwear. With well concealed horror she realized she embarrassingly iced herself. Thankfully it was only ice and not something worse… The ice would melt away eventually, though it would leave an unpleasant dampness in its place that she would have to deal with until it dried. If she had soiled herself, however… She restrained the need to shudder.

Elsa felt as if she were standing on display forever as the bishop droned on and on but literally seconds had passed by. Elsa chanced a look at her hands and sucked in air as frost emerged where her hands touched the objects. _No, no, no!_ Seeing this increased her trembling as her fear intensified, which in turn caused more frost to form.

_Shit! Hurry, hurry, hurry!_ Sweat formed on her forehead and she chomped down on her tongue to keep from actually shouting.

"Blah blah blah. Queen Elsa of Arendelle!"

Before the words were completely out of the Bishop's mouth, Elsa whipped around and swiftly dropped the orb and scepter onto the pillow and hurriedly jammed her hands into the gloves, bracing herself for the exclamations of shock or horror. But apparently nobody seemed to notice what had transpired in front of them as they all echoed the bishop's last sentence, and Elsa couldn't help but wonder if they were all blind. She was certain the forming ice would have been very noticeable, especially when they were staring at her the whole time!

But Elsa was extremely glad no one said anything and she was finally able to relax comfortably now that the worst part was over. She smiled as the crowd clapped and cheered, knowing the rest of the night would surely go smoothly.

What could possibly go wrong?


	3. Pt 2 of Day 1: The First Coronation

_Part 2 of Day 1_

After the coronation ceremony, everyone flocked to the Great Hall where the celebration continued with dancing and eating. Elsa was introduced as the new Queen and the waiting people bowed respectively. On the outside, Elsa looked composed and totally at ease, but on the inside she was sick to her stomach. She thought the easy part was over, but boy was she wrong! The part where she would have to interact physically with people slipped her mind. Shaking hands wouldn't be too bad, as it was short contact for the most part, but dancing on the other hand…

A knot made itself comfortable in her throat, making it difficult for her to swallow the saliva pooling in her mouth as it occurred to her there was a big possibility that someone would ask to dance with her. No, it wasn't a big possibility, it was inevitable! Of course someone would want a dance with the queen! Elsa had no qualms about dancing, in fact, she loved to dance. She preferred to do so alone, however, without the company of another, mostly due to the whole touching thing for obvious reasons…

The Queen was pulled away from her troubles when Anna was called out. It was hard for Elsa to keep a full blown smile from invading her face as she saw from the corner of her eye the Princess rush out and wave to the crowd like an excited little girl before Kai kindly guided her to her proper place, directly beside the Queen. The poor girl seemed hesitant about her position and close proximity and ever so slightly inched away, and Elsa's heart wrenched in her chest. More than anything she wanted her sister to be at ease with her, to feel comfortable, so when Anna cleared her throat and nervously touched her hair, Elsa initiated the beginnings of what she hoped would be a new start to their sisterhood.

"Hi."

The simple word appeared to startle Anna. "Hi… hi me?" Elsa nodded and Anna looked thrilled and hopeful at being acknowledged. "Oh, um…hi!"

"You look beautiful," Elsa complimented sincerely.

"Thank you!" Anna said, flattered at receiving such a gracious comment from her sister. "You look beautifuller! I mean, not fuller! You don't look fuller but more… more beautiful," she embarrassingly rushed out.

Elsa chuckled pleasantly at the adorably awkward display. "Thank you." Turning her attention to the mingling people, she said, "So, this is what a party looks like." Ever since Elsa was forced to hide her powers and the late King and Queen ordered the gates to be kept closed, there had been no celebrations of any kind within the castle walls, so it was a new experience for the both of them.

Seeing the normally empty ballroom now full of people, Anna commented thoughtfully, "It's warmer than I thought."

And scarier, Elsa wanted to say in response, but just then a delicious aroma wafted past her nose, surprising her. Being in a room stuffed with dancing people, a good smell was the last thing she expected to invade her nostrils, not that she was complaining. "And what is that amazing smell?"

The sisters lifted their noses and greedily sniffed the air. In unison they said happily, "Chocolate!" and shared a giggle together.

Their wonderful sisterly bonding moment was intruded upon as Kai and a short man with peculiar looking silver hair and a fluffy mustache approached them. Elsa suppressed a sigh and reminded herself that she was the queen and this was her coronation celebration and that meant she had to subject herself to talking with people whether she liked it or not. She braced herself and pinned what she hoped passed as a genuine smile on her lips.

Kai introduced the little man as the Duke of Weaseltown, which the man sharply corrected with, "Weslton! The Duke of Weslton, your Majesty."

He did look like a weasel, the ugly man. She was tempted to say as much, but she had to be civil. After all, a queen did not insult her guests unless she was looking for trouble, and trouble was what she wanted to avoid at all costs. As the man talked, she barely listened to what he was saying as her eyes were fixed with fascination on the glasses perched without aid on top of his huge, pointy nose. There was nothing keeping them in place, as far as she could tell. How did the spectacles remain undisturbed on his face? Her curiosity grew immensely when the Duke busted out with outrageously erratic movements and the glasses stayed in place without being jostled. Her attention on his face was diverted to the top of his head when the Duke, after showing off his horrendous dance skills, ended with a bow that caused his hair to flap comically.

Anna gasped loudly and the sisters exchanged embarrassed looks before giggling discretely. And then Elsa realized the Duke had brought up what she feared most: a proposal to dance. Her brain frantically worked, trying to find a way out of it. She needed to steer him away from her somehow. Her eyes flicked briefly to Anna and she came up with a solution that was safer and better than breaking one of her own legs, which she only momentarily considered.

Graciously, she declined the Duke's offer. "Thank you, only I don't dance." The Duke seemed especially bothered by this, and she wondered if the opportunity to dance with her was the highlight of his night. He must have been itching to ask since before he arrived at Arendelle's docks. She gestured to Anna and quickly informed him, "But my sister does."

Elsa barely had time to blink before the Duke's arm coiled around and attached to Anna like a snake latching on to its prey, and Anna started to protest but her words were cut off as the Duke yanked her away. As he dragged the Princess to the dance floor, her sister desperately stretched out her free arm to the Queen, her features screaming, "SAVE ME!"

Grimacing, Elsa felt extremely guilty for throwing Anna uncaringly to the rabid chicken-man-thing as she watched him cluck around her sister. The sight of him disgusted her but amused her at the same time, especially when observing her sister's reaction to his odd maneuvers. She felt slightly less guilty, seeing how Anna seemed to be having fun regardless of the circumstances. Luckily the dance was mercifully short and Anna wasn't stuck with him for long, but by the time she returned to Elsa's side she was wiped out.

"Are you okay?" Elsa asked, mildly concerned, but unable to hold a chuckle.

"I've never been better. This is so nice!" Anna proclaimed happily after rubbing her tired feet, referring to the two of them talking and getting along again like they used to all those years ago. She didn't seem to care about being offered as a sacrifice to the Duke. Elsa was glad that despite everything, Anna was still just as sweet and caring as she was when they were children. "I wish it could be like this all the time," Anna said wistfully, mirroring Elsa's own thoughts from earlier.

"Me too." Elsa wanted nothing more than to have what they used to. In her head she imagined all the great things they could have done together, things they could still do together if only… she didn't have THAT issue. Painfully, she said, "But it can't…"

"Well, why not?" Anna reached out to her. "I mean, we-"

Elsa twisted away from Anna before she could touch her, placing her back to her. It took all her will power to do so. She wanted nothing more than to accept Anna's touch and to touch her right back, but it wasn't safe. It never would be. "It just can't!" she stated fiercely

Crestfallen, Anna said, "Excuse me for a minute…"

As Elsa sorrowfully watched her sister walk away dejectedly, she considered whether to tell Anna the truth, to let her understand why things were the way they were. Anna deserved to know why she was keeping her at bay, needed to know she was doing so to protect her. It's not like Anna knowing was going to kill her, right? Frankly she couldn't figure out why blocking Anna from knowing about her powers was necessary to begin with. All these years she had simply accepted what the old troll had done and never once thought to question it until now. How did altering Anna's memories and making her forget about Elsa's magic help anything? All it did was drive an undesirable wedge between them.

Whatever, the past was in the past and things were about to change. Elsa firmly decided to spill everything to Anna when she came back. It was time to reopen the closed doors between them, to regain what they once had. Hopefully, Anna wouldn't hate her or spontaneously combust from the knowledge…

Elsa waited for her sister to return. She grew bored and restless just standing in place and attempted to search for Anna instead when she didn't show, scanning the crowd with her eyes for the younger girl. Seeing no immediate sign of the Princess, Elsa wondered if Anna left the room entirely. Perhaps she had gone to her room? But she didn't think so. Anna wouldn't miss the first party in forever.

Her efforts at finding her sister were prolonged and effectively foiled as an influx of people bombarded her with offers to dance and she declined each and every one with the same excuse she gave the Duke. It took them long enough, but eventually people stopped asking, much to her relief. Of course, since she refused to dance that meant she got stuck enduring conversations about matters she cared nothing about.

"Oh, you got a new puppy? That's great!" Why do you think I want to know that? Elsa thought to herself when a woman gushed over her new furry beast and how it couldn't stop wetting the floor. She even asked Elsa for some advice on how to prevent the accidents as if becoming the queen automatically made Elsa an expert on everything! Then some guy informed her that his wife left him for a baker, and she was so tempted to say, "How sweet!" Instead she responded as sympathetic as possible despite her state of boredom, "That's unfortunate." And then the guy not so suavely asked her to sign a paper sentencing the baker to death, to which she laughed the request off before removing herself from his company.

The night continued this way for quite a while. Elsa's ears were talked off and she was forced to act interested in the stories shared with her unasked, nodding when necessary and making appropriate noises when needed. Was being talked to death what she had to look forward to as queen? Oh, yippee! What joy…

"Elsa!"

Elsa jerked her head in the direction of the voice and breathed a sigh of relief, seeing it was Anna. She politely excused herself from the two gentlemen currently taking up her time and faced her sister, noticing Anna seemed in a much better mood than when they had last parted, thank goodness! She had been afraid she'd ruined any chance of reconciliation with her sister and was relieved to see that wasn't the case.

"I mean, Queen," Anna corrected herself and dipped into a hurried curtsy. "Me again." The Princess grasped the hand of a young man behind her and he stepped up next to her as she said, "May I present Prince Hans of the Southern Isles!"

Wow, Anna was already making friends! How cute! Elsa could see the two appeared very familiar with each other by the way they held hands, and she was greatly jealous of the contact between them but she did her best not to show it. She waited expectantly, sensing the two were bursting at the seams with news to share.

"Your Majesty…" Hans began, and Elsa couldn't help but notice he had quite a pleasant voice.

Anna joined him and they said together, "We would like…your blessing… of…our marriage!" Throughout the whole thing, the two giggled crazily like lovesick teenagers.

"Wha- Marriage?" Elsa stared dumbfounded at the two and hoped they were playing a sick joke on her.

"YES!" Anna exclaimed gleefully.

At first, Elsa thought Anna was answering her thought, but she realized Anna was responding to her question of marriage. Elsa almost erupted into laughter because what they were asking was too absurd to take seriously. But the longer she stared at them, and as Anna started blathering about a wedding and the Prince's twelve brothers staying at the Arendelle castle, the more it became clear that they were honestly asking her to bless their marriage! Elsa narrowed her eyes at Hans, instantly suspicious of him, because what man threw himself so carelessly into marrying so quickly, especially considering he knew Anna for all of two seconds!

"No one is getting married!" Elsa interrupted Anna, raising her voice enough to bring her sister's attention solely to her, taking it off the planning of her future wedding that was not going to happen.

"Wait, what?"

Wringing her gloved hands together, Elsa asked, casting a furtive glance at the Prince, "Can I talk to you, alone?" There was something slimy about the Prince. She didn't like him, didn't trust him, nice voice or not. She had to talk Anna out of this craziness before it was too late and she did something reckless! Surely Anna was smarter than this?

Unfortunately, Anna was terribly stubborn at times and her stubbornness reared its ugly head in that moment. "No. Whatever you have to say, you can say it to both of us!"

Anna putting a stranger before her own flesh and blood was quite upsetting to Elsa. But then again, wasn't she technically a stranger, as well? Yes, they were sisters, but distance kept them apart most of their lives. Hell, the two seconds Anna spent with Hans was probably more than she ever spent with Elsa. Anna probably knew everything there was to know about him, while she hardly knew a thing about her older sister. Which, Elsa reminded herself, I will amend once I get a chance to talk to Anna in private. First thing first, she had to dispose of the Prince, who was clearly becoming a big problem.

Flat out she told Anna, "You can't marry a man you just met." She figured Anna needed to hear it verbally before it clicked at how ridiculous her proposal truly was. There may be certain parts of the world where such a thing was acceptable, arranged marriages and all, but not in Arendelle, and not as long as she was Queen, at least not where Anna was concerned.

But Elsa was surprised by her sister's next words. "You can if it's true love!"

Elsa rolled her eyes at that but withheld her scoff. "Anna, what do you know about true love?"

"More than you! All you know is how to shut people out!" Anna shot back at her, the stinging words hitting Elsa with force.

The entire scene escalated from there, despite Elsa's attempts at diffusing the situation. She tried to end the discussion and walked away from Anna, remaining cool and controlled, but then Anna lunged for her hand and in the process accidentally removed one of her gloves. She refused to give it back, ignoring Elsa's pleading request, unaware of the danger she was putting herself and everyone else in.

Panic seized Elsa and she clutched her naked hand to her chest, knowing she had to retreat, feeling her emotions rising as Anna continued arguing with her in front of all their guests. "Enough, Anna!" she begged as she shuffled towards the door to leave, squeezing her eyes closed and trying to block out Anna's shouting words, which only seemed to grow in volume thanks to the hush that came over the room as all eyes centered on the fighting siblings. As she concentrated on steadying her breathing and her quickening heart rate, Elsa chanted in her head over and over, "Conceal, don't feel!" She foolishly clung to the mantra despite it always failing her and she didn't know why. It never worked before, and it was far too late to work now. Her emotions had skyrocketed and with it, her powers. She could feel the pinpricks of her power coursing through her body, causing the tips of her fingers to tingle chillingly.

Oblivious to Elsa's internal struggle, Anna yelled, waving her sister's glove around, "No, why? Why do you shut me out? Why do you shut the world out? What are you so afraid of?"

It was too much for her to handle. Elsa whirled around and shouted, "I said enough!" The arm of her ungloved hand swung out and she unleashed her icy powers in one swift motion without meaning to. A semi circle of spiky ice protruded outwards, narrowly missing Anna and several others, who managed to jump back in time to avoid the dangerous icicles.

Oh, no, what have I done? Her back pressed against the door, Elsa looked on in mute horror as gasps of alarm and frantic whispers rang out across the room and panic blossomed on the faces of the people. Their terrified reactions were bad, but the fear and confused look on Anna's face, and the frightened sound of her name being spoken from her sister's lips was what she noticed most of all, and it was worse than anything Elsa imagined.

With a strained gasp Elsa flung the door open and fled the castle, dashing outside and through the throngs of civilians waiting to catch a glimpse of the new queen, unaware of what had transpired in the Great Hall. She slipped past them, dodging in and out between them with ease until her escape was totally blocked off by bodies. Feeling like a trapped mouse, and not wanting to hurt anyone, she backed into one of the fountains in the courtyard, and the instant her hand touched the circular edge of stone the entire thing froze over. As expected, the people outside were just as shocked as those inside, and they shied away from her, giving her the opening she needed to flee.

And flee she did. Elsa left Arendelle behind her and ran without stopping until she reached the North Mountain. She wasn't sure what brought her there, but it didn't matter. She was finally alone and free from the judgment of others.

Alone, Elsa let her powers loose like she never had before, and it was an exhilarating experience feeling the rush of her powers thrum through her freely instead of trying in vain to keep it at bay. For the first time in forever she was able to be herself without having to worry about harming anyone or anything. Never again would she have to hide her true self and live in fear.

With this new found freedom, Elsa had no intention of ever returning to Arendelle.

**AN: Terribly sorry for such a late upload! When I got the idea to write this I was already writing another story and then more ideas for other stories grew like wildfire in my head so that plus work kinda put this on the backburner… Also, I wasn't quite sure how to get past the first day of coronation. I hadn't planned on writing out the first coronation simply because it's basically the movie version but I didn't want to just skip it entirely. Anyway, hope this part is decent enough! Pretty much all the dialogue is from the movie, fyi. I'll try and get the next chapter up in a week or two, but I can't promise how often I will be updating this story because I really only have a few silly ideas. I'm not going to drop it though, so don't worry. Eventually, as the story progresses, I'll be open to ideas!**


	4. Pt 1 of Day 2: Second Coronation

**AN: I said I would try putting out another part in a few weeks and I failed miserably... My apologies! I really should have prepared a little better when I started this story and at least attempted to make a few chapters in advance so there wouldn't be a long wait. Oh well... Also, I edited out the very last part in chapter three because someone mentioned how it ruined the flow and I personally wasn't happy with it either. It was edited out a day or so after chapter three was released so if you read after that you didn't miss it. Basically picture the ending of chapter three as how the movie went except the two sisters don't save each other. :D And now on to day two! This chapter was going to be one whole long part but I decided to halve it so there's at least something to put out right now instead of making you wait longer.**

BANG! BANG! BANG!

Jarred violently from her sleep thanks to the sudden intrusive racket outside her door, Elsa released an annoyed groan and muffled an obscenity into her pillow, sinking her fingers into the plushy softness. Opening one eyelid, Elsa sleepily glared at her bedroom door, daring whoever was behind it to continue the rude noises, which they did with great fervor.

BANG! BANG! BANG!

If Elsa wasn't feeling utterly exhausted she would have given the door assaulter a piece of her mind, but instead she remained motionless on her bed, allowing her eyelid to flutter closed again and snuggled deeper into her pillow, intending to get a few more minutes of much needed sleep.

But the knocking wouldn't let up, making her journey back to sleep land impossible. Conceding defeat, Elsa groggily sat hunched over in bed and rubbed the palms of her hands against her eyes, removing the crust gathering at the corners. What exactly was all the knocking about anyway? With an exasperated sigh she scooted to the edge of her bed and settled her feet down on the carpeted floor. She stood and trudged toward the door sluggishly. What was so urgent that she needed to be woken up in such a manner? It was like the morning of her coronation day all over again, she thought dryly as she brought a hand up to cover her mouth from an erupting yawn as the word 'coronation' echoed in her mind.

Her coronation…

Elsa froze mid-yawn and her eyes widened in horror as a torrent of images flashed in her head of last night, events leading up to and following her coronation. "Oh…"

She remembered her argument with Anna and running away after revealing her powers to the people and escaping up the North Mountain where she had planned to stay forever. But that didn't go as planned because Anna had showed up at her ice castle and ignorantly tried dragging her back to Arendelle despite Elsa's blatant refusal. Elsa knew she was a danger and she proved that point when she ended up injuring the younger girl by accidentally striking her with her powers after a rather emotional outburst. Everything else that happened immediately after was a blur and felt like it had happened to somebody else instead of her. She vaguely recalled getting caught and being returned to Arendelle where she was thrown into a cell in the dungeons. She managed to escape and was pursued by Hans, who convinced her to surrender to avoid further harm to innocents, and then she was ready to die but Anna appeared…

"Oh, god, no! Anna!" The realization hit her like a punch to her gut and she doubled over, dropping to her knees, stinging tears welling up in her eyes as the ugly memory of her sister turning into a statue of ice right before her eyes engraved itself in her head.

Anna was dead! Elsa choked on her tears and curled into a fetal position on the floor, sobbing. Her poor, innocent little sister was dead and it was all her fault! She had murdered her, destroyed her, took her vibrant life from her…

But something didn't make sense. Looking at her surroundings with teary eyes, she couldn't understand why she was back in her own bedroom. The last thing she remembered was crying at her sister's frozen feet on the iced up fjord, so how did she get here? She should be laying beaten on a dirty dungeon cell, hanged, burned, or something! Yet there she was, alive, unchained, and free to walk around and cause more harm to innocents.

"What on earth are you doing down there?!"

Elsa glanced up to find Gerda hovering over her with a heavy frown plastered on her face, hands on hips, tapping her foot.

"Wallowing in my pain and misery, do you mind?" Elsa said crossly, sniffling.

Gerda snorted and hauled the young woman to her feet with little difficulty. Tsking, she scowled and shook her head and pushed Elsa towards the bathroom door. "Your dramatic act is really unnecessary, Princess Elsa. I mean, really, you act as if becoming queen is the end of the world! Now, stop your wallowing and get undressed! We need to get you ready!"

"Excuse me?" Elsa jerked out of the maid's grasp and spun around to face her, leaning forward angrily. "My sister is dead!" she fumed. She didn't give a damn about getting ready for whatever it was Gerda was talking about. It was significantly unimportant compared to her poor sister's death. "She's dead!"

With a sigh and a blank look, Gerda nodded and said flippantly, "Yes, dear, I know. She certainly is." And then she had the nerve to flash a smile!

Elsa's jaw dropped in disbelief at the uncaring display shown to her and she very nearly socked the woman in the face, her fingers flexing and clenching into a fist, ready to let one fly. She couldn't believe how inconsiderate the woman was concerning Anna's death, and it made her sick to her stomach. Staring at Gerda, Elsa felt as if she was looking at a total stranger, not someone she had known her entire life! She never realized that what a heartless bitch Gerda was, but now her true colors showed bright as a rainbow!

Gerda, slightly perplexed by Elsa's peculiar attention on her, asked warily, "Princess Elsa, is everything alright?" She watched as Elsa's lips curled up into a snarl before her entire face scrunched up, and like a huge leak springing from a dam, she burst into tears, startling the servant. Immediately putting a comforting arm around the young woman and pulling her into a hug, mildly surprised that she didn't draw away from her touch or tense even slightly, Gerda said gently, "Now, now! What's with the tears?"

"Anna is dead!" Elsa blubbered. "A-And you don't care!"

Confused, Gerda responded, "Princess Anna is always dead to the world when she sleeps. She's such a heavy sleeper, if it wasn't for her ungodly snoring one would certainly presume she really was dead! But do not fret, she will be up and ready in time for your coronation!" She patted Elsa's shoulder comfortingly. The body against her own stiffened and the waterworks ceased.

"What?" Elsa whispered, removing herself from Gerda's embrace. "My what?"

The maid faintly wondered if the future queen banged her head against a bedpost while sleeping. "Your coronation, Your Highness? Don't you remember?" she said slowly. "It's today."

"But I don't… What? That's impossible… Today? What are you talking about?" Elsa cried in bewilderment. "It can't be today! Today already came! It already happened!"

Gerda pressed a hand to her own forehead and groaned inwardly, sensing it was going to be a very long morning, before forcing a smile and patting Elsa's shoulder, again surprised that Elsa hardly flinched at the contact. "In your dreams, maybe." She dragged Elsa into the bathroom, this time without a fight from the other woman.

"No! It really did! I froze the kingdom and turned my sister into ice!" Elsa explained as she removed her clothes for her bath. Talking animatedly and gesticulating wildly, Elsa rehashed everything that happened to the servant while the woman did her hair up in a bun. She was still going on about it by the time her bath was finished and Gerda wrapped a towel around her body to dry her and led her back into the bedroom. Elsa paused when the coronation dress was brought out, clearly confused about its existence, but she continued with her story a full second later.

The old servant listened intently but didn't interrupt or say anything until Elsa, out of breath and red in the face, was finally finished. "Well, then! You're certainly riling yourself up over nothing!" When Elsa gave her a look, she quickly said, "Trust me when I tell you that none of what you said happened, dear. I assure you, the kingdom was not frozen and Anna is very much alive and well. Though I'm sure a dastardly mess." She shuddered at the image of the untamed lion mane the younger princess's hair was sure to be in as she finished up Elsa's makeup.

Elsa now in full queen garb, Gerda stepped back and did a once over and seemed satisfied with the result. "There! All Queened up! Oh, hold on a second…" She plucked off Elsa's current gloves and handed her the newer pair. Turning away from Elsa, Gerda grabbed the abandoned wet towel on the floor and made her way back towards the bathroom with it slung over her shoulder. "I bet you got yourself so excited about your coronation that your brain churned up that ridiculous dream!" she called as she disappeared into the bathroom momentarily, leaving Elsa alone for the moment.

Elsa mulled over Gerda's words in her head, wondering if what the woman said was true. It could have been a dream, maybe, but she swore everything she experienced had been all too real. And yet there she was, standing in her own bedroom, apparently preparing for her coronation, unless coronation was another word for execution and she was ignorantly unaware…

No, Gerda was obviously right, Elsa decided. It had all been nothing but a horrible, terribly vivid dream. If it really happened she would have been dead already for being a witch and murdering her sister and whatnot. She relaxed slightly, and the stiffness that controlled her body seeped out of her muscles. Looking at the gloves, Elsa hefted them in her bare hands before she started to put them on. Her fingers were barely past the opening of one glove when Elsa paused, recalling what the dream-Elsa had done while gloveless. Not what happened in the Great Hall and in the courtyard, oh no, that she would love to never have to think about ever again. She was super glad it hadn't actually happened…

She thought back to what dream-Elsa did with her powers while alone up in the mountains, when she let it all go. The amazingly intricate ice palace she'd created was fantastic, and the ice dress… Wow. Elsa envied the dream-Elsa. If only she were able to create incredible things without fear of causing chaos and destruction for real…

Tossing the gloves on her bed, Elsa straightened up and mimicked the dream version of herself, waving her hands over her body and pretending to form an ice dress, even going so far as to mouth the lyrics to the song she had sung in the moment. If Gerda walked out and saw her doing something so foolish and silly she would definitely-

SWOOSH!

"Uh…" Elsa blinked in surprise as her powers wrapped around her body and transformed her coronation dress into a sexier ice dress, though admittedly it was not as sexy as the one in her dream.

Gerda exited the bathroom at that exact moment and came to a grinding halt, her eyes growing larger as she took in Elsa's unexpected and drastically different attire. A deep frown planted on her lips. "Your dress…" she muttered slowly as her eyes scanned Elsa suspiciously. "What have you done to your dress?" Sighing irritably, Gerda charged towards her. "There's no time for games, Your Highness! You must bring it back this instant!" she demanded, clearly annoyed by the sudden change.

Crap! "I didn't mean to do this!" Frantic and not sure what to do to fix it, Elsa tried taking the ice dress off like she would a normal dress, pawing and clawing to find some grip. But the dress was like a second skin, molded perfectly to her body and not willing to come off. "Gerda, help! I can't take it off!"

"Oh, for the love of…" Gerda mumbled incoherently under her breath as she approached the younger woman and stood directly in front of her. She examined the ice dress closely and seriously contemplated fetching the chisel and hammer to remove the dress but decided against it, knowing that wouldn't have been practical. The ice dress was too thin for such a drastic action and she'd likely end up maiming Elsa if she attempted it. Helplessly, the maid tossed up her hands. "I don't know what you expect me to do. You made it appear, right? Surely you can make it disappear?"

"If I knew how to do that I wouldn't be asking for your help, would I?" Elsa said indignantly. She plucked at the unique fabric woven from her magic in another vain attempt to dislodge it from her body and was once again unsuccessful. Defeated, Elsa wandered to her bed and flopped down on it, landing on her back with her arms spread wide.

She jolted in an upright position when Gerda complained, "Don't go messing up your hair as well!"

"Oh, what difference does it make now?" Elsa snapped. She ran her hands over her hair, too lazy to get up and visually check in the mirror to make sure it was okay, and didn't feel any strands straying. "Okay," she said, gripping her knees. "I'm sure this isn't that big of a deal… I mean, nobody is going to care about what I'm wearing, right? They're all there to see me being announced as queen, not to see what outfit I'm wearing."

"It's tradition," Gerda said as an explanation. "And your coronation dress is modest, unlike that thing you've got on." She shook her head disapprovingly. "It's see through, for goodness sake! And you're showing too much skin! If you went to your coronation in that you'd practically be going there naked!"

Elsa glanced down at her wardrobe with a look of disbelief. Naked, seriously? Aside from her bare hands, the only bit of skin shown was the area just below her collarbone. It wasn't like she was showing cleavage! Compared to the coronation dress, which covered her entire body neck down, yes, it showed way more skin, but she was hardly naked!

Before she could make a caustic remark, Gerda gasped sharply and cried, "I know what we can do!" She raced out of the room, and when she returned not a minute later, she had a burning torch in her hands.

Warily, Elsa eyed it. "And what do you plan to do with that?" Burn the witch? she thought amusingly and had to cough down a snicker.

"Your dress is made out of ice, yes?" When Elsa nodded, Gerda said, thrusting the torch closer to her. "So then it should melt when up against heat."

The idea sounded reasonable but Elsa wasn't so sure it would work. The dress had been created with her magic, after all, so the ice likely wouldn't react the same as normal ice. Then again, she never made clothes with the use of her powers before. She had been so intent on concealing them a great portion of her life and she wasn't sure what they were really capable of. As she sat there thinking, she remembered that not only did she build a freaking castle and weave an ice dress with her powers, she had even created living creatures in her apparent dream. Her powers had given birth to not one but two snowmen that could talk and walk and interact with others. Looking down at her hands in amazement, spreading them wide, she wondered if she truly had that ability as well. Her hands twitched with the urge to test it out…

"Oh, no." Gerda, holding the torch in one hand, took the gloves from where Elsa had placed them and said, dropping them onto her lap, "Put these on before you do something even more reckless and further delay the preparation." She waited till Elsa did so, watching her like a hawk. "Good. Now…to avoid making a mess, we should do this in the bathroom." Gerda promptly chased Elsa into the bathroom, waving the torch behind her to make her move quicker, stressing the importance of them hurrying up so they wouldn't be late.

Elsa entered the tub and stood stiffly as Gerda hovered the flame of the torch dangerously close to her upper body, trying not to budge an inch so she wouldn't accidentally bump into it and get burned. Neither said a word as they waited for the heat to melt the dress, the crackling of the flames the only sound heard in the stillness.

Gerda was watching intently for a sign that her plan was working and spotted the first barely discernable droplet of water that hit the porcelain tub instantly. A few more followed immediately after and she gasped and looked hopefully at the dress, touching it with a finger to the spot the heat was directed at, expecting to feel wetness. The dress appeared to be in immaculate condition, unaffected by the fire and was remarkably cool to the touch and not the least bit warm. Confused, Gerda glanced at Elsa's sweaty face and her own fell in disappointment, realizing the droplets had not been the dress melting.

They tried it for a few more minutes but nothing changed. Gerda even allowed the flames to physically touch the dress thinking she would get better results, but it didn't help. Elsa's body preserved the dress, preventing it from melting.

"Drat!" Gerda swore, snuffing out the torch as Elsa stepped out of the tub guiltily. "Well, if that didn't work then I don't know what will!" She tossed a towel to Elsa, who barely managed to catch it, so she could remove the sweat from her face, ruining her makeup in the process. "All that work down the drain," she muttered under her breath. The Princess's hair was so far the only thing not yet ruined but she wasn't holding her breath on that one… "You'll have to do it yourself and you better think of something quickly!"

"Okay," Elsa breathed, "I'll try." Shutting her eyes tightly, clenching her hands into fists, she grunted as she tried to concentrate and will the dress away.

"My goodness, are you constipated?"

"Gerda, when I become queen you better hope I'm kind enough to allow you to remain within these castle walls," Elsa threatened with a sneer. Gerda just laughed at her words.

Refraining from making any more unruly noises to avoid further comment from the maid, Elsa focused all her effort on making her masterpiece vanish. It wasn't long before a tingling sensation skittered along her body, the effect lasting for a few short seconds, and when Elsa risked opening her eyes she saw that she was no longer wearing her ice dress. In fact, she wasn't wearing anything but the skin she was born with. Any sign of her coronation dress was nonexistent. It had disappeared, apparently devoured by her magic.

"Oops," Elsa said sheepishly, unable to think of anything else to say.

Gerda threw up her hands, slapping them against her face and sliding them woefully down her cheeks, releasing a drawn out sigh. "This… is problematic." She trudged out of the bathroom, Elsa following closely behind her.

"Can't we find something else for me to wear? Or… I don't know! Postpone the coronation till we can get a new one?" Elsa asked.

Barking out a short laugh, Gerda said, "Postpone the coronation? And tell the guests from visiting kingdoms what? That you ate your dress?"

Elsa merely shrugged, having no response to that.

"Be quiet for a second so I can think…" Gerda rubbed the bridge of her nose tiredly. The dress had been the same one the late Queen Idun had worn on her coronation day and Gerda had fashioned it herself. That had been many years ago, but she was confident she could do it again even with the short amount of time they had. Nodding determinedly, the maid strolled to the bedroom door, flinging it open and poking her head into the hallway. "Laina!" she shouted, getting the attention of another maid passing by. "Operation Naked Queen! Get Marisol and Sheila, too! We'll need all the help we can get!" Turning around to face Elsa, who gave her a fearful look, she warned, "Your Highness, you are about to be touched… a lot, whether you like it or not. We have a dress to make and zero time to spare. Don't move, in fact, don't breathe! Just stay completely still so we can get this over with."

The next half hour involved lots of poking and prodding with sewing needles as Gerda and her assistants fashioned a new dress that was very similar to the old one. They used whatever materials they could get their hands on such as green sheets off of a bed or the purple drapes hanging by the windows. By the time they were done with their creation and Elsa was decent enough to be set free, there was just enough time to spare for Elsa to make it to the church if she hurried.

And hurry she did. Elsa ran as fast as she was able to. Gasping as she burst through the church doors, she immediately found the nearest seat in one of the back pews and parked herself to catch her breath, wondering how she was able to run up a freaking mountain with no trouble but sprinting such a short distance wore her out so quickly. She smacked her forehead and sighed, berating herself mentally, You never ran up a mountain, idiot!

Elsa happened to look up and saw all heads in the room craning to watch her curiously. Gulping, she remembered she had a coronation to go on with. It was the last thing she wanted to do. Really, all she wanted to do was sleep. She was too exhausted to continue, but continue she must.

Now mindful of the eyes fixed at her with astonishment, Elsa abruptly stood, rolling her shoulders to remove the aches that settled there. Transforming into a queenly state, looking composed and much like she hadn't been on a recent jog, Elsa made her way to the front of the room where the bishop stood. But she hardly paid any attention to him, her eyes settled solely on her sister off to his far left as she walked down the aisle. Her heart nearly exploded from her chest with relief upon seeing her baby sister. She wanted to run up to her and hug her to death! No! Not to death! Definitely not to death, but enough to show her how much she missed her and appreciated seeing her living, breathing body, to thank her for being alive and well. Elsa was so eager to talk to Anna that she almost went through the entire ceremony on autopilot, that is until the time came for her to pick up the scepter and orb, which she instinctively went to grab, only to have the bishop stop her with a crisp clearing of his throat.

Flicking his eyes surreptitiously to her gloved hands, the bishop whispered, "The gloves, Your Majesty."

She just stared at him, hands suspended mid-grab before slowly removing the gloves. She hadn't had time to think about this moment, truthfully she'd forgotten about it entirely, and now that it was here she started to tremble. Picking up the items, she spun around to greet the staring eyes, and instead of aiming her eyes at the wall at the opposite end of the church, she allowed her eyes to inspect the now standing crowd.

Wait… was that Hans standing in the second row to her right?! It certainly looked very much like the man that had been in her dreams. He had the same devilishly handsome face with sharp fiery sideburns. Elsa had never heard of him or seen him before in her life other than her dream but it was apparent that the man existed. Interesting… perhaps she had seen his picture somewhere and just forgot about it.

Puzzled, Elsa didn't realize the bishop was finished with his speech until she was nonchalantly nudged from the back. Snapping back to attention, she put the scepter and orb back and put on her gloves as her thoughts remained on the eerie strangeness that her day was becoming.


End file.
